What many people did not realise is that Karina often spent her lunch breaks helping out the Professors of their school. Some thought her snobby; that she didn’t want to eat in the cafeteria because it was beneath her. Others thought she was so ‘cool’ that she ate with the Professors in the staffroom. Neither were correct. She would never say no when someone required her assistance, and that’s how she found herself assisting Professor Taeyeon today.

“Professor, I have finished filing the budgets." Karina said as she closed the filing cabinets. It had taken a good half hour to sort out Professor Taeyeon's budgets; the woman was infamous for her forgetfulness which did not help her position as school’s assistant principal.

Professor Taeyeon smiled. “Thank you, Karina. It will now be easier to compare my budgets.”

Karina nodded succinctly and made her way to the door. “If there is nothing else you require of me, Professor, I am going to head to the cafeteria for lunch.”

Her professor waved her off. “No, no, you’re fine to go. I need to make some cuts to the cafeteria again anyways… The foods are far too high quality…”

The last part was said in a mutter Karina was sure she was not supposed to hear. As such, she decided to ignore it. 

Upon reaching the cafeteria, Karina found herself automatically searching for Winter. She smiled softly when she saw Winter talking excitedly with the her friends. Winter always had so much energy, and it was so endearing. She then noticed that her friends were not present. Karina was not certain where Giselle and Yeji were, so she supposed she was on her own for lunch. She was still trying to reduce her time spent with Winter as she had still not come to a decision regarding her feelings. The last thing she wished to do was give Winter hope, only to crush it later down the line. It would be far too cruel.

So instead of approaching their table, Karina started towards an empty table. That was until she heard Ryujin laugh and say “Probably not, but what the professors don't know won't hurt them!”

She really could not ignore that. “And what is it that they do not know?” Karina asked sternly, having walked up to Winter's table.

Ryujin winced. “Well-”

“Karina!” Winter exclaimed happily, interrupting Ryujin. “Want to join us for Karaoke night?”

“Karaoke?” Karina repeated in confusion. “I don't want to. It's such a childish activity."

Winter's jaw dropped, seemingly horrified by this. “K-Karaoke isn't childish! It's the bestest thing ever!”

“‘Bestest’ isn't a word, Winter,” Soobin sighed.

Winter took absolutely no heed of Soobin's comment and continued talking. “That's it! You're coming to karaoke with me no matter what! Friday at… Uh what time is it again Ryujin?”

“Seven.”

“Seven at Ryujin's dorm!”

“But-” Karina started.

“Nope! You're coming! I'll drag you down there if I have to!”

Karina was unable to find a reasonable retort. When Winter made up her mind it was impossible to sway her. “Very well. Since you are so insistent, I shall attend this karaoke session. But we are  not  breaking curfew, is that understood?”

“Yes Ma’am!” Winter saluted her.

“What- I -” Karina let out a troubled breath. She couldn't even find the words to express how ridiculous Winter's salutes were. So she just bid her friends a good day before heading over to the lunch line to grab some food. She would search for Giselle and Yeji afterwards.

“And bring Giselle and Yeji!” Winter yelled her. She acknowledged Winter with a wave of her hand. She had planned on bringing them anyways; she was sure Giselle and Yeji would enjoy with that.

 “Oh my gosh, karaoke! Yasss I haven’t done karaoke in agesssss!” Giselle cheered, pumping her first in the air.

“Yeah, we’ll totally go,” Yeji nodded enthusiastically.

She guessed that Giselle and Yeji would be happy, but she did not expect such an intense reaction. “Is it not… just singing songs? I do not understand what is so exciting.”

“So, what song will you sing?” Yeji asked.

Karina blinked. “I have to sing?” Both girls nodded excitedly. “Oh. I… I had not considered that.”

Yeji tilted her head in a thoughtful manner. “Wouldn’t this be a good time to confess to Winter through a song though? It would be so romanticl!”

Karina stiffened as a bolt of fear struck her like lightning. “I-I beg your pardon?!”

“Yeji! ” Giselle hissed. “She didn’t know that we know!”

“Oh.”

Karina attempted to smile, but she knew it was more of a grimace. This was a disaster. She was trying to avoid this situation, and now she was stuck in the middle of it! “How long have you been aware of my… feelings towards Winter?”

“Not too long, we promise!” Giselle said, clearly attempting to placate her. “We only realised it just before Winter started being all… uh… even more Winter-ish?”

Karina paled drastically. “Why, that’s nearly a month! Is it that obvious?”

Yeji shook her head. “It’s obvious that Winter likes you, but not so much that you like Winter. Ningning, Soobin, Ryujin and Ryujin's friends know, but that’s only because we spend a lot of time with them.”

Karina let out a shaky sigh. “So...even that brute Ryujin knows, and she hasn’t said anything to me?”

“Yeah, no-one really wanted to bother you about it. We just have fun teasing Winter instead,” Giselle smirked, and Yeji giggled.

“Somehow that does not surprise me. But ladies, I will not be confessing to Winter through karaoke or at anytime for that matter.”

Giselle blinked in surprise. “Um… why?.

“Believe me, I wish for nothing more than to do so, but it is not as simple as you think.”

“This is our fault, isn’t it?” Yeji murmured. Karina’s brows furrowed in confusion. How did Yeji come to that conclusion?

“I mean… Everyone has such high expectations of you, including me and Giselle, and because of that you feel like you can’t ever do anything outside of those expectations.”

Karina opened to speak, but gasped when Yeji shouted “No! Don’t try to deny it Karina! Me and Giselle have always understood why you distance yourself, even when we were less… um.. tolerable?”

“Yeah, we were kinda awful in first year,” Giselle muttered.

“A-Anyways, you deserve to be happy, Karina!”

Yoo Jimin hadn’t cried since she was a kid. But here, in this moment, she felt tears well in her eyes. She… She deserved to be happy. She had never thought about it that way. She had been content to live her life studying and not to have fun but she never considered whether that would make her truly happy. Whether it would have soothed the loneliness in her heart that had never healed. But Winter, Winter could do that. Winter had already started to do so, whether she was aware of it or not.

“Oh my god Karina!” Giselle wailed and pulled Karina into a hug. “It’s okay to be happy you know. You’re so selfless and compassionate - you need someone to take care of you more than anyone! And if that person is Winter… I suppose there could be worse options.”

Karina let out an amused huff, and backed out of the hug so she could wipe her eyes. “Gi, Yeji." she began, a small smile growing on her face, “Thank you, truly. I… I am very grateful for your advice. Without it, I may have made the mistake of letting Winter go. I need to think for a while, to see how I should approach this. I will see you at Ryujin's door at seven though.”

Giselle and Yeji nodded. “Sure thing!” In this moment her appreciation for her friends grew tenfold; she really apprecia